Umbrella



F. J. MAZZEO Nov. 8, 1960 UMBRELLA Filed Dec. 24, 1958 INVENTOR. FRANKJMAZZEO.

MAXWELL ESPARROW.

ATTORNEY United States Patent O This invention relates generally to umbrella construction and more particularly to improvements in the spring retainer or catch mechanism employed to retain the runner or sleeve rib carrier in umbrella opening or umbrella closing position, respectively, and is an improvement over the spring retainer or catch mechanism disclosed in my Letters Patent Number 2,705,968, granted April 12, 1955.

As stated in the said Letters Patent, in opening and closing an umbrella or parasol, difliculty is sometimes experienced in retaining the same in the desired open or closed position due to faulty construction of the spring retainer mechanism. Furthermore, it is desirable to make this spring retainer fool proof and as simple in construction as possible and with few parts and one which can be readily and easily inserted and secured in position.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a housing for the retainer spring made of a sim ple stamping and formed in a novel manner whereby the spring may be retained in position and the housing welded to the hollow shaft or tubular staff, thereby making for simplicity of construction, economy and efliciency whereby to provide a practical spring retainer mechanism to retain the riding runner or sleeve rib carrier in one of its extreme positions.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of the novel housing for the retaining spring which can be easily inserted in the hollow shaft or tubular staff of the umbrella, the said'housing being provided with extensions adapted to engage the outer wall of the said shaft or staff welded to said outer wall.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a housing of the aforesaid construction which eliminates or minimizes the possibility of a short circuit during the welding of the spring housing to the rod or stafl.

Another object of the present invention is to so construct the rib carrier so as to provide a clearance for the welded portion of the said housing when the rib carrier is being operated along the shaft or staif.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and re ferring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal view of the center portion of the hollow shaft or staff of an umbrella or parasol with the runner or sleeve rib carrier in its upper locked position and indicating in dash dotted lines the same sleeve carrier in its lower locked position; 7

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig-1,showing the general construction of the embodiment of this invention in its detail;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view, partly in section, of the finger member and retainer sleeve;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the sleeve rib carrier;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the sleeve rib carrier taken on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a detail view of a blank from which the housing is formed;

Fig. 9 is a top elevational view of the housing formed from the blank shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the housing taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a side elevational view of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a left hand view of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the finger member applied to the hollow staff or shaft; and

Fig. 14 is a section taken along line 14--14 of Fig. 13.

Reference will now be made to the detailed disclosure in the accompanying drawings. The numeral 15 generally indicates the hollow cylindrical staff or shaft of an umbrella or parasol provided with the runner or sleeve rib carrier 16 which is adapted to slide or ride up and down the shaft 15. The rib carrier or runner sleeve 16 is provided with the cut-outs or recesses 17 into which the lower ends of the ribs 18 fit in conventional manner.

. The cut-outs are formed in a ring 19 which is a part of sleeve 16. Sleeve 16 preferably has upper and lower flared end portions 20, 21, respectively. The reduced center bored portion 22 readily adapts itself to the positioning of the fingers of a hand used when opening and closing the umbrella. The longitudinal slot 23 extendsinto flared portions 20, 21. The upper edge 24 of slot 23 will contact the surface 25 of the finger piece of upper lock spring 27, while the lower edge 28 of the slot 23 will contact the surface 29 of the finger member 30 of the lower lock spring mechanism 31 when the umbrella is in closed position. Since the lock spring mechanism 31 and 31a are identical in construction (the only difference being that one is reversed in relation to the other), only the top or upper lock spring retainer mechanism will be described. The upper lock spring retainer or catch mechanism 31 includes the finger member 26 which is in the form of a spring wire, one end 32 of which enters the shaft 15 through the opening 33. This end 32 of the wire 26 may be bent as at 34 or otherwise secured. This forms the pivot point of the finger member or piece 26. Wire 26 enters opening 33 as a press fit, thus avoiding moisture or water entering the hollow portion 35 of shaft 15.

The upper portion or piston 36 of finger piece or member 26 is bent angularly with relation to its longitudinal portion and enters the cylindrical housing 37 for sliding movement therein. Secured to the upper portion 36 of the finger piece is a thrust plate or head 38 against which one end of a helical spring 39 bears, while the other end of the helical spring 39 abuts against the inner wall of the shaft or staff 15.

In the lower portion of the shaft or staff 15, the lower finger member is indicated by the numeral 29.

Referring now more particularly to the housing 37, which also forms part of the upper lock spring retainer or catch mechanism 31, this housing 37 is formed of a single blank 45 (Fig. 8), provided with the two lateral extensions or wings 40 which constitute the support of the housing against the outer wall of the shaft or staif 15, and which wings are spot welded to the latter. This blank is further provided with the much larger extensions 47 which when arcuately bent axially form with meeting edges 51, 52, the wall sections of the cylindrical housing 37 having the open end 41. In alignment with the wings 40 is centrally disposed elongate slot 50 to accommodate the portion 36 of finger piece or member '26 and being elongate will permit free movement thereof in plunger tashion relative to housing 37.

- It is to be observed that the lateral edge portions 53a of the blank extensions 47 are tapered, that is, they converge towards the wings 40. This tapering or converging permits the blank to be bent such as to provide the arcuate-slanting walls 53 to conform to the arcuate contour of the external wall of the hollow cylindrical shaft or staff 35.

The wings or extensions 40 are spot welded to the shaft or staif 15 as seen at 44 in Fig. 2.

The runner sleeve 16 has its bore longitudinally enlarged as seen at 54 (Figs. 6 and? 7) along either side of the slot 23 to clear the wings enduring sliding movement of the said sleeve for engagement with portion as of finger member 26 to maintain the runner sleeve in operable position as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, where the contacting surface of upper portion 36 with runner sleeve 16 is indicated by the numeral 25.

It is to be observed in Fig. 2 that housing 37 is shorter in length than the internal diameter of the tubing 35 of shaft or staff 15, thus providing a gap 41a between edge 41 of the housing and the inner wall 35a of shaft 15. This gap 41a assures spot welding at 44 only.

When the runner sleeve 16 is at its lowermost position as seen in dash-dot lines in Fig. 1, the lower portion 29 (equivalent to upper portion 36) acts as a stop for runner sleeve 16, contacting the edge 28 of the longitudinal slot 23 of runner sleeve 16.

It can be readily seen that the lock spring mechanism 31 may be assembled in advance, and may be attached to the hollow shaft 15 by inserting housing 37 in the hole or opening provided therefor in the shaft 15 and spot welding the wings 40 to the outer wall of the shaft 15. The shape of the housing is such that its portion 53 will conform to the curvature of the outer wall of the shaft 15.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that there has been provided in an umbrella, parasol or the like, having a sliding rib carrier 16 and a hollow shaft 15 on which the carrier is slidable and in which the shaft 15 is provided with a transverse opening 561 in its wall, a retainer or lock spring mechanism 31 or 31a for the carrier 16, this retainer or lock spring mechanism 31 comprising a housing 37 formed of a single blank 45 having a pair of opposed extensions 47 and a pair of aligned opposed wings 40 disposed at right angles to the extensions 47 and a centrally disposed hole (preferably elongated) in alignment with the wings, the extensions 47 being arcuately bent longitudinally and transversely bent adjacent the wings 49 providing the substantially hollow cylindrical portion 37a and the substantially closed curved or tapered portion 53 adjacent the wings 40; the cylindrical portion 37a of housing 37 being received in the transverse opening 15a of shaft 15 and the Wings 40 being secured externally by spot welding to the wall of the shaft; the angular finger member or piece 26 having one end 32, 34, in pivotal engagement with the wall of shaft 15 and the other end 25, 3t: being slidable in housing 15 through hole 50,

resilient means (helical spring 39) provided within hous-- ing 15 connected to the other end 35 of finger piece 26 being ad pted to urge the finger piece 26 outwardly, the finger piece 26 being provided with the stop means 38 to retain the end 36 of the finger piece within the housing and in engagement with the resilient means 39. The cvlindrical portion 37:! of the housing 37 is spaced from the internal wall of the hollow shaft 15 in order to assure instantaneous welding at the wings instead of otherwise providing a shorter circuitous path for the electric current in the welding process. j

I claim:

1. In an umbrella, parasol or the like having a sliding rib carrier and a hollow shaft on which said carrier is.

slidable, said shaft having a transverse opening in its wall;

a retainer for said carrier, said retainer comprising a housing formed of a blank having a pair of opposed extensions and a pair of opposed aligned wings disposed at right angles to said extensions and a centrally disposed hole in alignment with said wings, said extensions being arcuately bent longitudinally and transversely bent adjacent said wings providing a substantially hollow cylindrical portion and a substantially closed portion adjacent said wings; said cylindrical portion of said housing being received in said transverse opening in said shaft and said wings, being welded externally to said wall of said shaft; an angular finger piece one end of which is in pivotal engagement with said wall of said shaft and the other end of which is slidably received in said housing through said hole; and resilient means within said housing connected to said oth r end of said finger piece and adapted to urge said other end outwardly; said finger piece being provided with stop means to retain said other end of said finger piece within said housing and in engagement with said resilient means; said sliding rib carrier having a longitudinal bore with a slot running throughout its length to accommodate said finger piece and said bore adjacent to and on either side of said slot being slightly enlarged to permit said carrier to ride over said wings during its sliding move ment along said shaft.

2. In an umbrella, parasol or the like having a sliding rib carrier and a hollow shaft on which said carrier is slidable, said shaft having a transverse opening in its wall; a retainer for said carrier, said retainer comprising a housing formed of a blank having a pair of opposed extensions and a pair of aligned opposed wings disposed at right angles to said extensions midway of said blank and a centrally disposed elongated hole in alignment with said wings, said extensions being arcuately bent longitudinally and transversely bent adjacent said wings providing a substantially hollow cylindrical portion and a substantially closed portion adjacent said wings; said cylindrical portion of said housing being received in said transverse opening of said shaft and said wings being secured externally to said wall of said shaft; an angular fin er piece one end of which is pivotally connected to said wall of said shaft and the other end of which is slidably received in said housing through said hole; and resilient means within said housing for urging said other end of said finger piece outwardly.

3 In an umbrella, parasol or the like according to claim 2, wherein said wings are welded to said wall of said shaft and wherein said sliding rib carrier has a longitudinal bore with a slot running throughout its length to accommodate said finger piece and in which the bore adjacent to and on either side of said slot is slightly enlarged to permit said carrier to ride over said wings during its sliding mo ement along said shaft.

4. A retainer for the sliding rib carrier of an umbrella, parasol or the like having a hollow shaft on which the carrier is slidable, said shaft having a transverse opening in its wall: said retainer comprising a one piece housing having a hollow cvlindrical portion, a closed portion connected to said cylindrical portion conforming to the curvature of said shaft and wings extending laterally from said closed portion, said closed portion havin an elongated hole, an angular finger piece one end of Which is adapted for pivotal engagement with said wall of said shaft and the other end of which is slidably received in said housing adapted to urge said other end of said finger piece outwardly when said housing is inserted in said transverse opening in said shaft and secured thereto at said wings.

218,243 Drown Aug. 5, 1879 Mazzeo Apr. 12, 1955 

